SKETCH OF FLINT RIDGE, LICKING COUNTY, OHIO. 



863 



About three-fourths of a mile east of Burrier's house, on the Brookover 

 farm, are 2 acres of pits, on the most eastern point of the ridge. About 

 the same extent of ground is dug over on the Varner farm, half a mile 

 north of Burrier's house. Beyond Varner's the spur extends half a mile 

 north, and here is the termination of the ridge in this direction. 



To sum up, then, we find these pits reaching from half a mile west 

 to a mile and a half east and from a fourth of a mile north to a little 

 more than 2 miles south of the blacksmith shop at the cross-roads. 

 These vary from 12 to 80 feet in diameter, and some of them, at least, 

 cannot be less than 20 feet in depth. 



Then, a small number, some 2 acres, 3 miles east of the shop and 

 near the Muskingum County line. 



• Finally, a number scattered along in Muskingum County, from half 



a mile to nearly 2 miles from the line, those farther east being, as a 



general thing, smaller than the ones in the vicinity of the cross-roads. 



They are found on the most northern, southern, and eastern spurs of 



the ridge, but not within 2 miles of the most western spur. 



These distances are only approximate, the winding roads and per- 

 plexing sign-boards making it impossible for even those long resident 

 in the locality to form any very correct idea of the distance between 

 two places. It is easy to count up section lines, but when one attempts 

 to follow the roads it will be found that a " mile" is an exceedingly in- 

 definite unit of measure. 



The flint around the edges of the whole deposit is not so diversified 

 in color or quality as that in the more central parts, nor does it seem 

 to have been so well adapted to tne manufacture of the finer grades of 



implements. 



The amount of work done in excavating is such as would require 

 hundreds of men for many years, even with our superior advantages in 

 the wav of better tools, there being from 4 to 8 feet, and in a few places 

 even more, of soil and loose rock to remove, and the flint being so hard 

 that the best drill, according to the well-diggers, cannot penetrate it 

 more than 6 inches without being repointed and retempered. When we 

 take these facts into consideration, and remember that the aboriginal 

 workers had nothing but stone tools, the magnitude of their labor be- 

 comes apparent. 



The time that has elapsed since this work was done must remain un- 

 known. Efforts have been made to estimate the length of time neces- 

 sary for trash to accumulate to any particular thickness; but when we 

 know that sometimes an inch and sometimes a foot of leaves may pile 

 upina single storm, this forms a very unsatisfactory basis of calculation, 

 especially when it is not possible to know the amount of compression 

 that takes place in any given time. "Results "thus obtained are no bet- 

 ter than the merest guesses. 



On the dirt thrown out from some of the pits are oak trees over 3 teet 

 in diameter, that it is plain have sprung up since the pits were aban- 



